8. _Fairer ..._ Cf. ‘The Erl of Tolous’ (ed. by G. Lüdtke, Berlin,
1881): _were no fayrer undyr hevyn, That any man myght see, Fayre myght
none bee_. 354. Cf. also 980-1. Further, ‘The King of Tars.’ (Engl.
Stud. xi. pp. 1 ff.): _Feirer miȝt non ben oliue_ 8.
10, C. _miste_. In many southern texts the _s-_ initial has the phonetic
value _sh-_. Hence here it is to be assumed that medial _-st-_ has the
pronunciation _-sht_, a loose way of representing the pronunciation of
the _-ht_, _-ȝt_ like German _-cht_ in _nicht_, etc.
11, 12. _rine_ : _schine_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 31889-90: _þa sunne gon to scine,
Þe rein bigon to rine_; 28303, _muchel rein him gon rine_; 31086-7, _nis
nan feirure wifmon þa whit sunne seineð on_.
14. _briȝt so þe glas_. Cf. ‘Rich. C. de L.’ (Weber, Early Engl.
Romances, II.). 75. _And a lady þerinne was bryght as the sunne thorough
glas._
15. _whit so þe flur_. Cf. ‘Rich. C. de L.’: _off that lady whyt so
flour_, 128.
17, 18. _bold_ : _old_. Cf. ‘The Erl of Tolous’: _He was a feyr chyld
and a bolde, Twenty wyntur he was oold_, 712-13; Reinbroun 4, 4. _Faire
child he was and bolde, He was boute seue winter olde._ ‘Beues’
3899-3900: _Be þat he was seue winter old, He was a fair child and a
bold_.
19, 20. _iliche_. Cf. ‘Guy of Warwick’ 1336: _In all þys worlde ys none
hym lyke_.
21, H. _tueye feren_. The H text here lacks one of the archaic features
of the story, referring to only two companions, viz., Aþulf and
Fikenhild. The other ten, save for the abrupt introduction of Arnoldin
at the conclusion, play no active part in the present version.
23. _riche menne sones_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 28932-3: _monies riches monnes sune,
monie hæðene gume_.
25. _for to_ with infinitive. This is frequent, especially in H, and is
probably due to French influence, _por à_. Cf. 166 L, 242 H, 388 C H,
902, 1011, 1186, etc.
27. _him het_. For frequent use of reflexives cf. 134 L, 140 C L, 147 C,
173 C, 233 L, 293 C, 294, 526 C, 307 C, 364, 398 C, 426, 806 L, 802 L,
1250, 1269, 1297-8, 1386, 1410, 1545.
27, H. _Athulf_. In the early part of the H text _th_ is used in proper
names.
31-35. Cf. ‘Erl of Tolous’ 181-3: _So hyt befell upon a day, The erl
and he went to play, Be a reuer syde_. Cf. also ‘Lyb. Disc.’ 25, 26
(Ritson): _As hyt befelle upon a day, To wode he wente on hys play_;
also ‘Lay.’ 25661 A, _bi þere sæ side_; ‘Lyb. Disc.’ 645-6: _Yesterday
yn the mornynge y wente on my playnge_.
42. _sarazins_. The conventional enemy in mediaeval romance. Probably
due to French influence and ultimately due to the stories originating in
the crusades and in the struggles between Mohammedans and Christians
culminating in the Battle of Tours.
44. _Oþer to londe brohte_. Murry mistakes them for merchants (cf. also
637-8). The whole incident, vv. 39-62, reminds one of the quite parallel
historical incident of the first landing of the Northmen in 787, and the
death of Beaduheard and his retinue.
45. _Payn_. Cf. Note on _Sarazins_, 42. _of herde_, an unusual
combination. This is the only instance cited in Bradley-Stratmann.
55. _gunne_ = ‘did’ intensive, as frequently. See _gan_ in Glossary,
also _con_, _couþe_, _began_.
57. _vnder schelde_ means perhaps ‘in arms.’ Cf. ‘Rich. C. de L.’
5691-3: _And yiff the sawdon off that land Myghte sloo Richard in that
feeld With swerd or spere undyr scheeld_. Cf. also Wissmann’s note.
67-8. _libbe_ : _sibbe_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 11605-6: _þenne maȝen we libben mid
sæhten & mid sibben_ (Wissmann).
69. _hi here_. The representatives of the OE. forms of the personal
pronouns are usually very strictly adhered to. _þei_, _þe_ occurs twice
(55 L and 1557 C), _sche_ once (380 L), ‘their’ and ‘them,’ not at all.
69, 70. _asoke_ : _toke_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 12114-16: _& sūme heo god wiðsoken
& to haðenescipe token_ (Wissmann). Also ‘Lay.’ 29187-8: _for crist
seolue he for soc, and to þon wursen he tohc_.
82, L. _hundes_. Cf. also 91 L, 634 C H, 887, 1465, etc. For a possible
explanation of the term cf. ‘Rich. C. de L.’ 337-40: _Upon his creste a
rede hounde. The tayle henge to the grounde. That was Sygnyfycacioun The
hethene folke to brynge down._ Cf. 634 Note.
89, 90. _made_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 28067-8: _deoren swið hende, þa ure drihten
make_ (Wissmann). The contracted form _made_ of L H, is that of the
original as shown by the rime and rhythm.
92. _quic flen_ perhaps a trace of a primitive custom in this
crystallized phrase (cf. also 1468 C).
98. _iseene_. Cf. Chaucer, ‘Knight’s Tale’ 65: _Now be we caytifs as it
is wel seene_ (Wissmann).
100. _strong_ : _long_. Cf. ‘Havelok’ 2242-3: _Non so fayr, ne non so
long, ne non so mikel ne non so strong_.
107, C. _stere_. Cf. Glossary.
109. Cf. the parallel historical incident where Aethelstan sets his
brother Eadwine adrift, in Thorpe’s translation of Lappenberg’s England
under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, II, iii, London, 1845 (Wissmann).
118. _wringinde_. Cf. ‘Havelok’ 152: _He wrungen hondes and wepen sore_
(Wissmann).
121-122. _wo_ : _þo_. A stereotyped couplet in romance. Cf. ‘Lay.’
8429-30, 20383-4, 8677-8, ‘Sir Isumbras’ 380-1, 759-60, ‘Rich. C. de L.’
6521-2.
123. _Horns_. Perhaps a scribal error, so common in this MS.; perhaps a
trace of the OF. inflection with _-s_ in the nom. sing. Cf. _Horns_
1560 H, _enimis_ 1023 C, 1024 H; also _page_ and _crois_ in Glossary.
127. _flowe_. Cf. ‘Proverbs of Alfred,’ v. 197 (M. and S. selections):
_Uppe þe see þat floweþ_. Kölbing (Eng. Stud. vi. 154) thinks _flowe_
means ‘flood’ as distinguished from ‘ebb.’
128. _rowe_. The ‘ship’ was a ‘galeie,’ cf. 199, 1084, 1086, etc.: cf.
also ‘Rich. C. de L.’ 2521-4: _They rowede hard, and sungge ther too
With henelow and rumbelooo. The galeye wente also faste As quarrel dos
off the arweblast._
131-2. _ywis_ : _ymis_. Cf. ‘Lay.’ 19067-8: _for æuere heo wende ful
iwis þat it weoren þe eorl Gorlois_.
134. _sprang_. Cf. ‘Owl and Nighting.’ 734: _Wane þe liȝt of daie
springe_. Also ‘Ipomydon’ 776: _To-morrow, or the day sprynge_. Hence
the modern word ‘dayspring.’ For reflexive phrase, _him sprong_, cf. 27
Note.
150, L. _dawes_, the natural phonetic development from OE. nom. accus.
plur. _dagas_. The more usual forms _daies_, _dayes_, are formed by
analogy with the singular.
161, C H. _hol and fer_. Cf. ‘Ass.’ 62 Cambr.: _so hol ne fer_.
168. _dales and dune_. A common collocation of words. Cf. ‘Lay.’
27352-3: _iseȝen alle þa dales, alle þa dunes_ (Wissmann).
170. _blessing_. The accent on the second syllables of dissyllabic words
as revealed by the rimes in ‘Horn’ is an interesting feature. This
accent is no doubt in part to be explained as a French characteristic,
in part as the survival of an OE. secondary accent. For further
instances cf. 209-10, 219-20, 233-4, 239-40, 243-4, 253-4, 263-4,
359-60, 467-8, 529-30, 609-10, 859-60, 1169-70, 1235-6, etc.
174. _mild_. Cf. ‘Rich. C. de L.’ 6887-8: _Tho sayde to hym with mylde
stevene_, also a frequent phrase in the ‘Assumption.’
176. _beoþ icumene_. For other examples of _beon_ as auxiliary cf. _beþ
ygo_ 310 H, _am iorne_ 1228 C, etc. Cf. also ‘Lay.’ 13838-9: _whæt
cnihten ȝe seon & whænnenen ȝe icumen beon_.
175 ff. Compare with Aylmer’s greeting the in many ways similar greeting
of Vortiger to Hengest and Horsa. ‘Lay.’ 13826 ff.
180-2. _Ne sauȝ ihc ..._ Cf. 180-2 Note.
202. _sail and roþer_. Cf. ‘R. H.’ 60-61: _Kil naient auirum dunt a (!)
seient aidanȝ sigle ne guuernad (!) dunt il seient naianȝ_.